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Highlights:

• SpaceX called off Starship launch 30 minutes before liftoff at Starbase, Texas.
• Company cited “ground system issues” and plans to retry on Monday.
• Starship’s past test flights in January, March, and May ended in explosions.
• The rocket is central to Musk’s Mars colonization vision and NASA’s lunar plans.
• Latest test aimed to deploy mock Starlink satellites and attempt orbital engine reignition.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX called off the tenth test flight of its Starship megarocket on Sunday (24), due to an issue with ground systems at its Texas launch facility. The liftoff was scheduled for the evening at the Starbase facility near Boca Chica, Texas, but was aborted roughly 30 minutes before launch to allow SpaceX engineers time to troubleshoot the problem. The company announced the delay via social media, stating it was “standing down today’s flight to allow time to troubleshoot an issue with ground systems” and said it intended to attempt the launch again on Monday (25).

This postponement marks the latest setback in a series of challenges for the Starship development program. Earlier in 2025, three test flights of the Starship’s upper stage ended in mid-flight explosions, and a “static fire” ground test in June resulted in a massive launchpad explosion. Despite these failures, SpaceX aims to eventually make Starship fully reusable—a key part of founder Elon Musk’s long-term vision of colonizing Mars.